You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
by Measured
Summary: It’s always the quiet ones you need to look out for. Kakashi receives the title of Hokage and learns there’s more to Iruka than he ever imagined. Mildly AUish, eventual Kakashi/Iruka.
1. Chapter 1

Title: You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son  
Day/Theme: June 06 [2009]: You are a runner and I am my father's son  
Series: Naruto  
Character/Pairing: Hokage!Kakashi, Iruka (Eventual Kakashi/Iruka)  
Summary: It's always the quiet ones you need to look out for. Kakashi recieves the title of Hokage and learns there's more to Iruka than he ever imagined. Mildly AUish, eventual Kakashi/Iruka.  
A/N: I was in a Kakashi/Iruka mood. At Naruto prompts there was this little one 'Kakashi discovers that Iruka is more than just a chuunin schoolteacher, he is the Hokage's highest ranked assassin that not even the ANBU know about.' And with the tease of Hokage!Kakashi in the recent chapters... well.

After some chapters there's 'omakes'. There kept getting humorous snippets and situations, but put in the actual context of canon they'd be jarring. They're sort of non canon, but fun! They get to let me make perverted!Kakashi jokes without killing the serious mood.

**.  
**  
It had fallen dark since the celebrations. Crickets chirped outside in the fragrant, summer air. Instinctually, Kakashi knew this was a good sign. The minute those crickets stopped, that was when he had to worry. It would be a shame to be assassinated on his first day of the job. Kakashi still felt a little drunk from all the alcohol he'd consumed out there, all the toasts in celebrations. He didn't usually drink quite this much, but he did have a reputation to keep up. Who knew what kind of reputation Konoha would have if their Hokage couldn't even hold his liquor? Besides, after the last show where Tsunade had drank down ten shots one by one and then carried three glasses in her cleavage, he had a lot to live up to.

His olive green yukata was tied loose, just as he preferred it. A triangle of bare flesh showed through, revealing scarred pale pectorals and abdominal muscles. He leaned back in this house, now ihis/I house. He'd pulled off his forehead protector after the bath, but kept his mask on. He felt warm, pleasantly unhinged and ready to flip through the pages of a sordid novel before bed.

Kakashi was only five pages into the torrid affair of Yukiko and Asagi (who were bent in a position he thought was likely anatomically impossible) when a sound caught his attention. He heard a light rap at his screen, as if from a visit from a secret lover tapping at the windows.

Kakashi sighed. He had just gotten comfortable. He put the book aside with a bookmark to save the place and rose, stetching and padding his way sleepily to the door.

Iruka-sensei stood there on the doorstep, waiting for him. He looked unimposing in his Chuuin uniform, slightly rumpled for wear with some sort of food stain on the front. Iruka took one look at Kakashi's state of dress (or lack thereof) and looked away in a manner that was both excruciatingly polite, and verging on blushing.

I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd just gotten out of the bath," Iruka said.

"Ah...it's nothing," Kakashi said. "Did you forget something?

Iruka smiled closed eyed and rubbed behind his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry for bothering you this late at night. I Just forgot to tell you something."

"Come in," Kakashi said.

When the screen closed behind them, Iruka left his sandals at the door. Kakashi felt vaguely amused. Iruka probably ordered his underwear drawer by color. He probably had a house where dust didn't dare to rest long.

Iruka began to undo his first his vests, and then his shirt itself.

"I am at your command."

Kakashi was pretty sure he'd read this porno before.

Iruka's body was tanned and muscled, almost deceptively so. His chest was scarred far beyond what a mere Chuunin who spent his days teaching the youngsters would have achieved. There was a razor tipped sun over his left shoulder and pectoral muscle.

The Hidden Sun, a group of assassins that were the stuff legends were made of. Supposedly, only the best and brightest ever became a member of this select group. They were a higher class than Anbu, so close that they only answered to the Hokage themselves.

"I thought that group was just a story," Kakashi said.

"I assure you, we're very real, Rokudaime."

All this time he'd written Iruka off as a motherly type. Wouldn't hurt a fly – at least unless it was on a mission. But then, Iruka's only missions involved fingerpainting and teaching minor jutsus to the lowest classes. He'd probably never even seen a S-ranked mission in his life.

He'd even rescued him in the face of Pein's attack.

But it was as if a mask had fallen off from Iruka.. The face that regarded him lacked the kindness and easygoing nature of the man he thought he had known. It wasn't to say that Iruka looked particularly cruel, merely determined. There was an intensity that had not been. He stood up straighter and made no pretense of awkwardness. This Iruka did not seem the kind to blush if something vulgar was mentioned.

As if reading his mind, Iruka explained the thought that had lingered there. "I don't usually engage in hand-to-hand combat. My particular expertise is stealth kills. How this expertise is used...that is up to your commands."

Still, Iruka had done his fair share of fighting. You couldn't get that many scars from teaching the youngsters. Unless it was a _particularly_ violent bunch, which Kakashi couldn't quite count out. He'd taught Naruto, after all.

"And Naruto?" Kakashi said. "Was he merely part of your job as well?"

Iruka was silent a moment before replying. "I was assigned to watch over him , but that was not the only reason."

"You grew attached," Kakashi said.

"I saw potential."

_I saw a part of myself_.

"Ah, potential...potential to be used for Konoha, or yourself?"

"I'm not a heartless creature," Iruka said. "It's not as if I wished Naruto dead. I've done everything within my power to prevent that. I wanted him to grow past what he was inflicted with."

So the caring routine wasn't entirely a front. Considering Kyuubi had killed Iruka's parents, perhaps the motherly show wasn't just a front. That didn't mean he wasn't bursting with falsities, however...

"But you are a liar," Kakashi said.

Iruka smiled, far more cynically than Kakashi would've imagined seeing him smile. "And you're not?"

Kakashi said nothing and his silence spoke wonders.

"We're all liars and we're all murderers...that is the way of the ninja, no?"

Kakashi wondered where the mask began and Iruka ended. Then again, maybe Iruka had wondered the same thing about himself. Who was Iruka, anyways? Cold blooded killer? Caring, mediocre teacher? Or was he some combination thereof, a person who killed for the sake of his country and cared enough to raise up its youth – even the most unwieldily, troublesome ones.

The mask came on again. It was like Iruka had stepped into the body of another person, taken their personality and zipped it tight over his own...whatever it was.

He smiled, eyes closed (harder to read as false). Iruka bent at the knees and slouched his shoulders slightly to give the impression of being smaller than he actually was.

"I'm glad we cleared that little issue of education funds fixed. If another thing pops up, can I come to see you?" Iruka said.

"Of course," Kakashi said.

Iruka smiled, a smile which he did not know the veracity of. Who knew what was the true Iruka through it all?

"Until next time, Rokudaime," Iruka said.

There it was, a hint of the Iruka he had glimpsed before. But it vanished along with him into the dark.


	2. Omakes 1&2

_Omake (1)_

"I've got a job for you," Kakashi said.

"I await your command," Iruka said.

"It may be a dangerous one..."

"That is what I am here for. What are the details?"

"It's cleaning my back room," Kakashi said.

Iruka frowned. "Cleaning your back room? What kind of joke is this? My worst students could do this!"

"It's such a dangerous job, I'm not sure I'd want to inflict such a thing on anyone else."

There were empty beer bottles strewn about in every corner, some of them broken in pieces and bloodied as if they had been used in barfights. Refuse littered the floor rendering it almost impassible. A string of inexplicable barbed wire was curled in between the dirty plates other unrecognizible trash spread about the place. Through it all was a sleeping man who had turned the filth into his own personal futon.

"The last Hokage wasn't particularly tidy."

Iruka reeled. "...you're right. This is an S ranked mission. I'm not even sure if I'll manage to survive it."

"If you don't return, then I'll make sure you're remember as a hero" Kakashi said.

_  
Omake (2)_

"What are your orders, Rokudaime?"

"I have an infiltration job for you," Kakashi said. "It's very dangerous so you'll have to go deep undercover."

Kakashi lifted up the uniform Iruka was to wear. It was a maid outfit, black and lacy and extraordinarily low cut. With it was a pair of lace garters and stockings, with black stiletto high heels.

"Of course, to ensure that the infiltration will work, you'll have to model for me..."

Kakashi barely ducked in time to miss a kunai with his name on it.. Iruka did have remarkable accuracy.


	3. Chapter 2

Title: You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son 2/?  
Series: Naruto  
Character/Pairing: Hokage!Kakashi, Iruka (Eventual Kakashi/Iruka)  
Summary: It's always the quiet ones you need to look out for. Kakashi receives the title of Hokage and learns there's more to Iruka than he ever imagined. Mildly AUish, eventual Kakashi/Iruka.  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: 16. a faint quiver in the air for the Gauntlet Challenge. Auphora66 nudged me and I finally finished with a beta job I owed long enough to finish.

**.  
**  
Being Hokage about killed any attempt at watching people. He couldn't simply loaf through, dismissed as the brilliant yet strange ninja he once had been. He was pretty sure he couldn't just read porn on the tops of buildings anymore either.

Now people stared at him. They stopped to talk. They called to him. It was so hard to do any proper stalking when one was the Hokage. But he had to admit, the hat was well worth this advantage.

He took a slightly different path this time. One far more convoluted and time-consuming, but he liked to think of it as _ the scenic route_. So it was that he came upon the academy by something like an on purpose accident. Iruka was been bent over, instructing on of the children in a particular jutsu. He made each hand gesture in quick succession, and the child followed clumsily along. Admittedly, the route was a sham, a threadbare excuse to get a glimpse of a certain teacher to satiate his curiosity, but he'd gotten a posthumously published Icha Icha he'd lacked and a handy gossip mag out of it. It was good to know who was dating whom in Konoha. He'd hadn't even known that he'd been desperately in lust with Anko who was currently carrying his lovechild, but who could deny a persuasive article like that?

"Kakashi-Hokage!"

"Yo."

Iruka lowered his voice. "Can you meet me in a few minutes after school is finished? I wanted to discuss the issue about the finances I mentioned last night."

"Sure."

Kakashi hunkered down in the shade and opened the pages of the gossip column. Maybe there was something about Iruka in there, possibly listed as a 'sexy secret agent.'

However long of a time Iruka took, it was worth avoiding paperwork for.

Kakashi looked over the latest bolded headline of _Danzou and Tsunade UST! Former Or Soon to Be Lovers?!_

Surprising, considering he'd just read last week that Tsunade had a torrid lesbian affair going with both Sakura _and_ Shizune. A shame these descriptions weren't more _vivid_. It'd probably sell better if it was. Of course his imagination could fill the spaces with Icha Icha-esque situations, but it just wasn't the same.

Iruka came up, flushed, wearing his harmless persona like a soft fur hood.

"Did you see page 3? You're featured quite prominently there."

Iruka scoffed. "Those are trash, Kakashi-Hokage. They post nothing but sensationalist lies."

Entertaining ones, for sure. According to the article in question linked him to Genma, Kotetsu, Izumi, all after the tragedy of the epic true love that he had once had with Hayate. In fact, it seemed Iruka had been romantically (or at least _carnally_) linked to every man in the village at some time. Except himself, that was. Apparently the editor of the magazine thought Kakashi a paragon of heterosexuality.

"About what I said earlier..."

Kakashi closed the gossip magazine and paid full attention to Iruka.

"I'm listening."

"You see...the error seems to be caused by one well-meaning secretary and I wouldn't want word to get to them. It would certainly _break them_, thus this must be _discreet_. Can we meet someone in private?"

Kakashi looked about. The school was empty, clear of any ninjas he could sense. And he was pretty good at sensing these kinds of things. Though there was always the chance that they were hidden even deeper, or of a familiar, or a well hidden shadow clone...

"More private, if you will. If someone sees this, they wouldn't understand."

There were very few ways Iruka could phrase that sentence that would make it kinkier.

"Are you coming onto me, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka sputtered and flushed a very bright red. "J-just do it!"

Iruka's poor choice of words made it even kinkier. Not to mention cute.

Kakashi pulled out a particular scroll he kept around just for such purposes.. Three hand gestures later, a thick smoke came about them.

"Climb on."

His arm was about Iruka's waist, Iruka's arms were about his neck. Iruka's face was still slightly flushed. They looked like one of those cheap romance novels which he most certainly never had read. The ones with the busty heroines and the strapping, studly heroes, the purple prose and the touching endings where the hero and heroine kissed at the end.

The clouds of smoke closed about them as the dark, cold onset of worlds came. It was always something to get used to, though Iruka handled it quite well. Better than expected, at the very least. He'd clung harder, and he'd paled slightly, but otherwise, he'd proved to have an iron stomach. A lot better than Kakashi's first trip, to say the least.

The place they came to was a forest between worlds. It looked no different than their world. There were no purple skies or green clouds, and by all means, if one wasn't well attuned to energy, it might be mistaken for being the same world. The pack's cave was a few paces away. Scattered carcasses in varying state of decay and refuse lay about in heaps near the entrance and far beyond. His Ninken kept house the same way he did.

The pack laid back idly. A few looked up at their master's arrival. Bull was gnawing on a bone long picked clean, Urushi, Akino and Shiba were curled up in the back. Guruko wagged its tail on arrival.

Iruka bent to touch Guruko. He scratched Guruko's head, and before he knew it, Guruko was rolling over to have his belly rubbed.

Traitorous dog.

"Looks like they're shifting alliance," Pakkun said.

No one was watching. Iruka didn't have to keep up the facade around here. But maybe he just really liked dogs.

Iruka rose, much to Guruko's displeasure. He gave a little whimper and Iruka plucked him up into his arms.

"So, these education issues you spoke of..."

"Ah, yes," Iruka said.

"Tell me everything."

"Danzou has his sights upon the status of Hokage and he's not beyond taking someone out of the way to do it," Iruka said.

"I surmised as much."

"He has much support and his own personal elite force. There's very little he won't do, for he considers this 'for Konoha's good.'"

Iruka paused to scratch Guruko's belly. He said a soft, gentle _who's a good boy?_ and Guruko barked a happy affirmation.

The only way this could be more mood breaking was to add a fuzzy kitten and a horde of capricious children to the mix.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "And about The Hidden Sun?"

Iruka blinked a second. "Oh – The Hidden Sun isn't quite what the legends make up of it. Throughout the years, a concentrated amount of conflicting information was spread about to turn it into a legend."

"And it is?"

"A group that serves the Hokage. I suppose you could call them Hokage's Foundation. The method behind it is similar, but not quite the same."

"So where's the rest of you?"

"Unfortunately, since Yondaime we've suffered casualties and a lack of growth... and the last of them fell when Pain attacked the village," Iruka said.

"You're the last?"

Iruka nodded.. "If you hadn't have saved me from Pain, there wouldn't be any to carry on the legacy. It seems... as if we were being systematically exterminated. Godaime had been looking into the cause, but again, Pain's attack cut this short."

Iruka set Guroko down and undid his jacket. He pulled off his shirt and revealed the intricate tattoo again. In this light, Kakashi saw now that the sun shaped mark wasn't a tattoo, but a seal.

"Genjustu," Iruka said, "It's my specialty."

It had been such a faint amount of Genjustsu, he hadn't paid attention to it. Much like Iruka himself. Likely that was how Iruka had survived the systematic extermination of his fellow comrades.

"So all this time you were some high-ranked ninja hiding behind the guise of a mere schoolteacher?"

"No. You see, Rokudaime, I have one major skill, and that is being ordinary. No one gives me a second glance."

Iruka smiled a closed eyed, seemingly friendly smile. "You didn't either."

Kakashi let out a long breath. "It's a mistake I'm not going to forget anytime soon."

Iruka chuckled low. "I'm bound to you, Rokudaime. I couldn't betray you if I wanted to."

"Well," Kakashi drawled, "It's nice to know that someone isn't trying to kill me."

**.**

They reappeared on an alley. It was several buildings down from their coming point, but trans-dimensional travel was never an exact science.

Right away, Kakashi sensed a presence, one that could be quite troublesome to their plans of staying alive.

Without even a second glance or another thought, Kakashi pinned Iruka to the wall.

"What–"

_"Play along,"_ Kakashi whispered tersely.

And Iruka did. With gusto. Iruka arched his back like he'd been slipped aphrodisiac. His gasps and blush were quite admirably played.

"Nn.....not here, Ho-hokage-sama!"

Kakashi tilted up Iruka's chin. He let out a tiny moan at the touch.

"Maa... when you make a face that cute, how can I resist?"

Kakashi slipped a hand under Iruka's shirt. Hard muscle and scars greeted his roving hands. He glanced over taut abdominal muscles that felt wonderfully solid, firm and _right_ under his grip. He pushed even higher up until it was pectoral muscles and a frantic heartbeat with the traces of Genjutsu crackling beyond.

_"Mmnn– Hokage-sama–– "_

Iruka may have been an actor at heart, but this wasn't acting. Nobody could tremble that well without actually being turned on.

Kakshi pulled down his mask with his other, free hand and left a kiss on Iruka's slightly parted lips. It was neither as deep as he wished, or as chaste as acting would call for, but he had a feeling that if he went much deeper in the act, Iruka was going to punch him.

Of course, the ninja in question was already long gone, but it would be crass to feel up a guy and not even give him a kiss on their 'first date'. Or was it second considering the whole 'stripping like a porno and declaring loyalty' thing. That _had_ to count for something.

Iruka looked a long moment at Kakashi's unmasked face.

"I thought it only fair, since you showed me underneath your mask," Kakashi said flippantly. He smiled, indulgent, and winked before he pulled back up his mask.

With some inner reluctance, he stopped with the lover's act. A shame, it'd just been getting interesting.

"Well, I've ruined your reputation, but it looks like we'll live a bit longer."

Which was basically just a nice way of saying _I saved your ass by grabbing it_.

Kakashi let out a sigh. He'd recognized the ninja in question just by feel alone. Sai was blunt enough that if asked to Kakashi's whereabouts, he'd probably blurt out_ he's fucking Iruka-sensei in an alle_y.

Kakashi hoped that Naruto wasn't around when Sai blurted it out, otherwise, he might have a Nail-tailed fox on his doorstep, demanding to know why a perverted copy-`nin was molesting his teacher.

**.**

It wasn't so much that he didn't believe Iruka: he did. Kakashi merely wanted to test things for himself. It was that which lead him to take the darker, outer path that skirted the forests on his trip home with no backup, no notes should kidnappers appear.

Kakashi wasn't particularly arrogant or overconfident, but he was well aware of himself as being not someone to be taken likely.

Then again, they weren't either.

Darkness made everything in the outer forests seem sinister. He wouldn't go so far as to say there were golden eyes and that it was a dark and stormy night, but it was high on the scale of creepy.

A kunai whizzed past his ear and sunk into the bark of a nearby tree. He looked at it a moment. Another one joined it.

Ah, there was his validation. Well, it was about time he got to running away now.

A barrage of metal stars flew through the air, and Kakashi ducked quick, but not so quick that his hair didn't become a little bit shorter. He'd been meaning to get a haircut anyways, though this was not the method he'd envisioned.

Oh well, at least it was free.

More metal flitted by, invisible sharp implements filled the air like a cloud of gnats. He heard the sound of jutsus being unleashed, and he could feel them coming closer, like little explosions in the air.

Definitely time to be going.

Considering the sheer amount of force, Kakashi estimated there to be at least five more than he'd like to take on alone. He probably _could_ win, but sometimes it was better just to retreat (especially on reconnaissance missions which consisted of 'if I put myself into a dark place, how long before someone tries to kill me?')

He ducked down and crawled. He had just begun the motions of a particular jutusu of his thousand-plus arsenal that would likely leave a lot of charred bodies when it was interrupted by the brightness of another explosion. A Chuunin grade jutsu—

Kakashi used distraction and the motivation of the possibility of being burned to death to crawl out at an admirable pace. When he was free of the place and back to the bend, he brushed himself off and faced one very angry teacher.

"You idiot," Iruka said, his voice tremulous with barely contained anger, "What the hell are you thinking– were you– I don't even–"

Iruka clenched his fists and breathed in a way that suggested he might emit flames if pressed any further. It was possible. They were ninjas after all.

"I took the long way home," Kakashi drawled. "But it's nice to know that you're worried about me."

Iruka flushed, but Kakashi couldn't tell if it was anger or embarrassment.

"It's my job to be worried about you. Remember that," Iruka said.

"...I won't forget it for a minute," Kakashi said.


	4. Omake 3

Omake (3)

Kakashi stared out at the latest issue of the sensationalist magazine, on which he was featured on prominently. The cover displayed their pseudo-yet-highly-enjoyable makeout scene. Iruka looked very much like a romance novel heroine, his hair was even undone.

"Looks like that solves the mystery of who was publishing the magazine," Kakashi said.

_"Danzou_ was publishing sensationalist magazines all along?!"

"Possibly to fund his nefarious plans. Or it could be just Sai," Kakashi said.

They stared at the magazine for a long moment. Somehow, writing a sensational magazine seemed just like a thing Sai would do.

"It's just Sai," they said in unison.


	5. Chapter 3

Title: You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son 3/?  
Series: Naruto  
Character/Pairing: Hokage!Kakashi, Iruka (Eventual Kakashi/Iruka), Naruto, Neji, Hinata  
Summary: It's always the quiet ones you need to look out for. Kakashi receives the title of Hokage and learns there's more to Iruka than he ever imagined. Mildly AUish, eventual Kakashi/Iruka.  
Rating: PG-13  
A/N: My help_pakistan buyer asked for this to be updated, so..here you go!  
Sorry for the wait, I was behind on birthday gifts this year.

No omake this time, as it'd be mood whiplash.

**.**

Iruka frowned at the suggestion. "Naruto on a stealth mission? Isn't that something of a contradiction? Don't get me wrong, I'm fond of him, of course, but..."

Kakashi smiled, though all that was visible was a slight crinkling at the side of his one exposed eye. "Trust me."

**.**

Kakashi was looking at a report with the morning sun on his back. Who'd have thought that being Hokage would require so much _paperwork?_ Naruto might be a little less enthused with his dream once he heard how much of it was tedious meetings and monotonous paperwork. He was just thinking that it would be a good time for a nap when there was a crash, and the door burst open.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO IRUKA-SENSEI?"

...Right on schedule.

"Nothing he didn't want," Kakashi drawled without looking up from his report. Naruto jumped on the desk, knocking over several of former Hokage's things.

"You pervert-nin!" Naruto said. His eyes had turned vulpine in nature, he looked quite on the verge of ripping Kakashi limb from limb. Kakashi knew he was quite capable of it as well.

"You ran all the way here, I presume?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course! Sakura-chan mentioned that she saw the magazine – then she said that she 'didn't read it, but only saw it while browsing, because she'd never go so low as to read something that Ino—'"

"Of course she doesn't," Kakashi said.

"You better explain this!"

Kakashi folded his hands and regarded Naruto. "Sometimes when a teacher and a teacher are reasonably fond of each other, and possibly drunk, they make out in an alley. This thankfully, most of the time, does not result in children."

"I know what making out is!"

"Of course, you've read Jiraiya-sensei's things," Kakashi said.

Naruto puffed out his cheeks in irritation. "I've kissed before..."

"Ah, yes. Sasuke," Kakashi said.

A mix of pain and anger flickered over Naruto's face. Sasuke was always a touchy subject, but Kakashi didn't gloss over things, keeping them to hushed whispers even if it did cause pain. It was good for Naruto to remember the good times as well as the bad.

"You better not break Iruka-sensei's heart, or I'll break your face," Naruto said, lifting up a fist.

"You'd have to wait your turn until he was done breaking it first," Kakashi said, stifling a yawn. "And what were you here to tell me?"

"Oh yeah! The trip to visit Mizukage was a success – she's real pretty too."

"That she is," Kakashi agreed.

"She said that there'd been no sight of him, and it's all clear! She hadn't heard anything new, so I guess it was a wasted trip, but they had_ great food._"

"Good. Thank you," Kakashi said. "You can go now."

"Ok! I'm off to visit Sakura-chan and Hinata-san...Sakura-chan said she was checking up on an old injury..."

Naruto was rubbing at the back of his head, a little awkward. He was just in the stage where girls were alluring, not scary (unless they were Sakura-chan, or Tsunade.) and yet he was far from suave. Kakashi doubted he'd ever get anywhere near 'suave', but with hope, he'd be himself and not try to emulate Jiraiya's pick up lines. Jiraiya was a master writer, but Naruto's emulation of him was quite lacking. Maybe a few years, but at the moment all it was doing was giving him many bruises.

When the door closed, Iruka materialized from where a rubber tree had been previously.

"Nice Genjutsu," Kakashi said.

"I bet the entire village heard that..." Iruka sighed.

"My point precisely," Kakashi said.

"Hokage-sama–"

"That's far too a pretentious title," Kakashi said.

"Then Rokudaime, if you prefer," Iruka amended.

"Too formal. Really, you should call me 'Hatake'..." Kakashi reached out, looped his arm to Iruka's waist and pulled him closer for a nuzzle. Iruka made a noise of protest, but Kakashi pressed a finger to his lips.

"Seeing us together people will think one of two things: that we are conspiring or having sex. I'd rather they think the latter," Kakashi said in an undertone. "Like the person who is listening to us right now." Kakashi nodded towards the window. There was no one visible, but there was a faint energy source which was harder to hide.

Iruka flushed but gave a slight inclination of his head, an almost nod. Iruka allowed himself to be pulled into Kakashi's lap.

"...besides, you're cute."

"Really, Kakashi," Iruka said in a louder tone. "I wish you wouldn't grope me everywhere. It's embarrassing!"

"Alright, pookie, I'll save it for the bedroom," Kakashi said.

Iruka pulled a kunai out, and aimed it at his throat. He looked not unlike an enraged Naruto. "Call me that again and I _will_ stab you, Rokudaime!"

"Feisty _and_ kinky," Kakashi murmured. "Though if you're too embarrassed, you could come here and whisper it in my ear..."

Iruka caught the cue.

_I believe Madara Uchiha is among us, and if not physically then with spies. I also believe he will use Sasuke against us when the time is right. I'm afraid that time is drawing near._

They exchanged a meaningful glance.

"I love it when you talk dirty," Kakashi said.

"Pervert," Iruka said.

Kakashi shrugged, with a smile. Iruka was ever so fond of stating the obvious.

"Kakashi...what should we do about Sai?"

"Thank him for the exposure?" Kakashi suggested.

"Not _that_. He's very close to Naruto," Iruka said. Without turning his head, he looked towards the window. "I'm afraid he'll be a poor influence considering how he dresses...just like a rent boy."

"Hmmm," Kakashi said. "There is a saying...'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' We've yet to see where he will fall in that. If nothing else, he'll teach Naruto a new possible career."

Iruka looked as if that was the exact worry – though Kakashi knew it had a lot more to do with Danzou, though the fear that Sai might seduce Naruto into the world of prostitution, drawing dirty pictures and saying 'penis' repeatedly was surely somewhere in his concerns as well.

"Besides," Kakashi drawled. "Naruto does have an uncanny habit of turning enemies into friends."

Iruka smiled. "That he does."

**.**

Iruka was just sending out Terada, who was having issues with some of the basics to such an extent to be downright nostalgic – though thankfully, he'd yet to deface any local monuments. He had noticed her behind him, but had feigned not to.

"Um," she said, and cleared her throat.

:"Oh, Hinata-san," Iruka said, bursting into a smile. Smiles were easier when one closed their eyes.

"Iruka-sensei, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Hinata-san. What may I help you with?"

"I think you'd be better suited to train with your cousin, I'm just a low-level teacher," Iruka said flippantly.

"But..." She looked around, a bit nervous, a bit embarrassed. "...your shoulder."

"Oh, that old wound? It's nothing to be worried about. He kept a fairly strong Genjutsu on it at all times. A large shoulder wound he'd sustained at some period. No one asked questions, for they all had them.

"...there's a mark. You're special, aren't you?"

Hyuga eyes. They saw through things, of course. Saw down to the bone. Iruka looked to the window. He'd learned the hard way that you could never be sure of who was friend or foe.

"Ah, really, that wound just looks strange. It's a gift from Kyuubi." That usually quieted any questions, considering what else the Kyuubi had taken from him.

"Please..." She gripped his arm, and gave him such an entreating look that he paused. He couldn't feel the energies which signified listening ears, watching eyes, but he knew they were there.

Always somewhere.

"Well...Come on to my house, I'll make tea and then we can talk."

They walked on, awkward and stiff. Hinata looked nervous, yet determined, as if it took all her strength to keep her head up.

"Really, I'm not the best to ask about female troubles," Iruka said. "No matter what the jokes my students may say."

"Kurenai-sensei has been so down lately...I didn't want to bother her," Hinata replied. Bless her for getting the cue.

"Well, I'll do my best," Iruka said.

There were quite a few wards in his house. Most of all, a silencing one. They were small, incongruous seals that no one noticed – much like Iruka himself. True to his word, Iruka began to put on water for tea as soon as he got in. His house was neat and tiny and traditional, i with tatami mats and a futon in the other room. There was no real decor, not even fresh flowers in vase, an d everything was arrayed in dull earth tones. There was a low table one would have to sit in a seiza to eat from which occasionally also was used for games of Shougi, and Hinata removed her shoes and sat at the side, her hands folded in her lap.

"I saw it when Pein was attacking," she said. "I used to see it a lot – the marks – tattoos –– but when I talked to my father about it, he told me to be quiet...but you're the only one with the mark now."

Iruka sighed. He wondered if the Uchiha family had done the same. If so, it'd explain why so many of them had fallen. They'd made every precaution, and stayed incognito for a long time. Perhaps Madara was making his move yet. It would not surprise Iruka.

"I want to grow stronger...and I want to protect him," she said.

"At this rate, I think it'd be the other way around, don't you?" Iruka said.

She looked down. She'd barely survived the attack on Pein, and had a long ways to go before she'd be protecting anyone – at least, anyone from a power level of someone like Pein's strength.

"You've been on the tracking team, it's valuable. People can't just rely on pure power," Iruka said. "Reconnaissance can be just as valuable."

He didn't have a lot of people to trust in this town. All too often he'd raised up little warriors only to see them lost in battles before they ever became teenagers.

"I've told only Neji-niisan. Father has already made his intension to pass the birthright to Hanabi, and I feel like I must make my move or nothing will ever change."

"You're siding with the other side of your house?" Iruka said.

"I don't want another generation to go through what Neji-niisan has had to. I want it to end with ours, but I don't want to have to fight my sister for it. I don't want to ever think people are expendable like Neji-niisan's father...and I think Naruto will change this," Hinata said. Her cheeks were flushed rosy, her gaze entreating..

"Kakashi – I mean, Rokudaime and I are doing our best to protect him, and he isn't exactly a fragile flower himself. It'd take a lot to take Naruto down."

"P-please don't think I'm doing this just to have him solve my problems. I-I believe in him, and I want to support him," Hinata said, now wringing her hands.

"No, of course not...you're not that type of person."

The tea water was bubbling, and Iruka rose and began to pour it out into two little green ridged cups without handles. Steam rose from them, as he placed it beside her. Iruka sighed. His mind whirled with thoughts. On one hand, they could always use another ally. On the other, the more people he told, the more likely he would get betrayed, even unwittingly.

Then again, if he fell, who would protect Kakashi...?

It was the thought that he might fail in his duty to the Hokage – to Kakashi that tipped the scales in her favor.

"...All right," Iruka said. She looked relieved.

"Listen to me, you are to tell no one else but your brother. Not your teammate, not your teacher or any member of your family. Keep a watchful eye out, especially on the activities of The Foundation and Danzou. This isn't just imperative – this could save or kill both Naruto and Rokudaime."

"There's something in the air, but no one will talk about it," Hinata said.

"We...fear a coup may happen, and the council will be too busy bickering. As you noted, the Hokage's organization has dwindled. I only managed to escape because I was merely reconnaissance."

What he didn't tell her was he also was an assassin. The kind who lurked in shadows, pulling his victims to their quick, clean and efficient deaths. He wasn't made for hand-to-hand combat, but skulking undercover under masks of smiles and gentleness.

But she didn't have to know this. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He just hoped that one day he wouldn't have to reveal this at the blade of a knife.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd be forced to kill a student to 'clean up' a leak, to protect a Hokage.

With Sasuke's imminent attack looming forward, it certainly wouldn't be the last.


End file.
